After what the Los Angeles Rams did to the Indianapolis Colts last week, Washington Redskins fans are looking ahead to their team’s Week 2 trip out west with some apprehension. Former Redskins offensive coordinator Sean McVay – now the Rams’ head coach – engineered an exciting win for fans of his team, dominating the Colts at home in a 46-9 win.

There are several significant matchups to watch between Rams and Redskins players and one of those is the one between Washington wideout Terrelle Pryor and Rams’ cornerback Trumaine Johnson.

Johnson had an exceptional game last week against the Colts, recording one interception for a touchdown and two tackles. He also forced a fumble deep in Indianapolis territory, leading to a field goal.

Johnson wreaked havoc on the Colts. Out of the five times receivers under his coverage were targets, just two passes were caught.

Franchise-tagged for 2017, Johnson will be covering Pryor for most of the time they are both on the field. What will make things more difficult is that L.A. defensive tackle Aaron Donald will be back, having been away from the facility since June OTAs on contract issues.

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The three-time Pro Bowler will make an already-good Rams’ pass rush exponentially better, putting pressure on Redskins QB Kirk Cousins. This will make it easier for Trumaine and the rest of the Ram’s secondary to do their jobs against Washington’s receivers.

Johnson was the NFL’s Week 1 Defensive Player of the Week (the first time for a Rams CB). He also earned Pro Football Focus’ No. 3 cover grade among corners. Between the good game he had against the Colts and his All-Pro teammate being back, he will be even more confident Sunday.

It will be up to the Redskins offensive line and blockers to protect Cousins. It will be up to Cousins to be accurate and get the ball out of his hands quickly. And it will be up to Pryor to get good, fast separation and be physical when he is targeted by Johnson.

“I wish he would have held out for another week,” Redskins LT Trent Williams joked about Donald. “But that’s life in the NFL now. Everybody has these D-lines that are souped-up so… you’ve got to bring a hard hat, it’s going to be another tough one.

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